observed by the principal
Yesterday was my day to be observed by the
principal. Since this is my first year and I'm still "probationary", I was a
little nervous. And I've always been slightly self-conscious about the fact
that I didn't go through a traditional credential program (they don't have those
for religion teachers). I'm always wondering if those other teachers learned
something in their experiences that I didn't.
And what if that's one of the things he's
looking for when he observes me?!
But most of that is just head-chatter. I've
been observed before, and for the most part, feel like I hold my own pretty well
in this school. So I wasn't losing my mind or
anything.
But still. The principal.
And the class went pretty well. In our previous class, we attended a presentation by someone from Christian Peacemaker Teams. One of our religion teachers has just recently joined their efforts, and our school decided to raise money for them during this week. These presentations were held in the theatre, and every kid in school attended one of them.
There is a CPT delegation in Hebron right now, right in the middle of the Isareli/Palestinian conflict. They are there primarily as a "violence-reduction" force, trying to put themselves in between soldiers and civilians, suicide bombers and innocent people, etc. They are completely non-violent and supported entirely by donations. They do things like walking children to school to help them avoid trouble with the occupation soldiers. They ride buses that are known bomb targets, hoping the relationships they've built with both sides will help foster compassion and the willingness to listen.
And these are extremely difficult things to do. This is ministry of the most difficult kind, often life-threatening, always scary, and never easy. And, unfortunately in our case, extremely difficult to convey in an 85-minute presentation. The principles of non-violent resistance often take a lifetime to fully absorb. To expect our students to assimilate them in a week is just not reasonable.
So my class opened up with a lot of mixed reactions to the CPT presentation. Although we're a Catholic school, only about 50% of our students are Catholic. The other half are a wonderful mix of Atheism, Judaism, Buddhism, other kinds of Christianity, and more. Since CPT identifies themselves as a Christian organization, I think many of the kids felt a little put off. And since our speaker's presentation focused mostly on their work in Hebron, supporting the Palestinian civilians living in occupied territory, the presentation felt (to many of our Jewish kids) anti-Israel.
The first fifteen minutes of class, then, were spent in kind of a dialogue with the kids. I hadn't been expecting this, but it was obviously needed. These feelings had been fermenting for two days now, and I could tell many of them had talked it over with friends and parents, and now wanted some kind of response. It felt good to settle into some skills I haven't been able to use very much in the classroom yet, like reflective listening, mediation, etc. I don't know what kind of experience you get with that in a teacher credential program, but a master's degree in Consciousness Studies exposed me to lots and lots of work in group dynamics, dialogue, and listening. So I felt really good about that. I hope the concerned students felt heard, though, and I hope they'll be willing to continue participating in a dialogue about this.
The rest of the class was a series of video clips, audio clips, activities, and readings aimed at helping them think about the differences between violent and non-violent responses to conflict. I taped down a line on the floor and they had to stand on the line where they thought the example belonged (violent or non-violent, and how much). They then shared their thoughts with the class.
Overall, I felt really good about the lesson, and was glad to be observed yesterday. But I don't yet know how much of these concepts my students will be able to absorb right now. Pretty deep stuff. But maybe it's enough just to plant the seed and let them come to it in their own time . . .
As with so many things, time will tell.
But still. The principal.
And the class went pretty well. In our previous class, we attended a presentation by someone from Christian Peacemaker Teams. One of our religion teachers has just recently joined their efforts, and our school decided to raise money for them during this week. These presentations were held in the theatre, and every kid in school attended one of them.
There is a CPT delegation in Hebron right now, right in the middle of the Isareli/Palestinian conflict. They are there primarily as a "violence-reduction" force, trying to put themselves in between soldiers and civilians, suicide bombers and innocent people, etc. They are completely non-violent and supported entirely by donations. They do things like walking children to school to help them avoid trouble with the occupation soldiers. They ride buses that are known bomb targets, hoping the relationships they've built with both sides will help foster compassion and the willingness to listen.
And these are extremely difficult things to do. This is ministry of the most difficult kind, often life-threatening, always scary, and never easy. And, unfortunately in our case, extremely difficult to convey in an 85-minute presentation. The principles of non-violent resistance often take a lifetime to fully absorb. To expect our students to assimilate them in a week is just not reasonable.
So my class opened up with a lot of mixed reactions to the CPT presentation. Although we're a Catholic school, only about 50% of our students are Catholic. The other half are a wonderful mix of Atheism, Judaism, Buddhism, other kinds of Christianity, and more. Since CPT identifies themselves as a Christian organization, I think many of the kids felt a little put off. And since our speaker's presentation focused mostly on their work in Hebron, supporting the Palestinian civilians living in occupied territory, the presentation felt (to many of our Jewish kids) anti-Israel.
The first fifteen minutes of class, then, were spent in kind of a dialogue with the kids. I hadn't been expecting this, but it was obviously needed. These feelings had been fermenting for two days now, and I could tell many of them had talked it over with friends and parents, and now wanted some kind of response. It felt good to settle into some skills I haven't been able to use very much in the classroom yet, like reflective listening, mediation, etc. I don't know what kind of experience you get with that in a teacher credential program, but a master's degree in Consciousness Studies exposed me to lots and lots of work in group dynamics, dialogue, and listening. So I felt really good about that. I hope the concerned students felt heard, though, and I hope they'll be willing to continue participating in a dialogue about this.
The rest of the class was a series of video clips, audio clips, activities, and readings aimed at helping them think about the differences between violent and non-violent responses to conflict. I taped down a line on the floor and they had to stand on the line where they thought the example belonged (violent or non-violent, and how much). They then shared their thoughts with the class.
Overall, I felt really good about the lesson, and was glad to be observed yesterday. But I don't yet know how much of these concepts my students will be able to absorb right now. Pretty deep stuff. But maybe it's enough just to plant the seed and let them come to it in their own time . . .
As with so many things, time will tell.
Posted: Fri - April 2, 2004 at 01:53 PM
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Published On: Jan 02, 2005 10:40 PM
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Published On: Jan 02, 2005 10:40 PM